The Washington critic., 1887-08-27
rniltr In tone of sollloquy, as II hardly

rntler IN tone Of sollloquy, as II hardly
rotirg my presence.
ANOTHER REMARK ABtE DREAM.
Mr.. Lincoln had another remarkable
dream which was repeated so frequently
during his occupancy Of the White House
tha, he came to regard It as welcome Wis
iior. II was OF a pleasing and promising
character, having nothing OF the horrible
in Its texture. It was always an omsn Of
union victory and came with uuetriug Ger.
tainty just before every military or naval
engagement where our arms were crowned
with success. In this dream he saw ship
sailing away rapidly, badly damaged, aud
our victorious vessels In close pursuit. He
eaw, also, the close OF q battle on land, tue
enemy routed, and our forces In possession
OF vantage ground OF incalculable import
ancc. Mr.. Lincoln stated 1t as u fact tnnt
he had this dream Just before the battles of
Antietam, Gettysburg, and other signal en-
gagements throughout the war.
THE NIGHT BEFORE MS DEATH.
The last time he had this dream WAS tho
night before his assat sinatIon. On the morn
Ing of that mournful day there was Clbl,
net meeting at which General Grant was
present. Turning to General Grant during
al interval Of general discussion Mr.. Lin.
| coin asked bin II he had any news from
| General Sherman who was then confronting
Johnston. The reply was in the negative,
| but the General added that he was in hourly
expectation OF a dispatch announcing John.
ston's surrender. Mr.. Lincoln then with
| great impressiveness said; 1--WE shall hear
| very soon and the news will be important {"
| General Grant asked him why he thought
so. "Becsuse,n said Mr. Lincoln, 81 had Il
| "a ~
began have had the same dream just be-
fore every event Of great national import
ance. II portends some important event
that will happen very soon.n
| After this Sir. Lincoln became unusually
cheerful. In the afternoon he ordered a
carriage for a drive. Mrs. Lincoln asked
| him II be wished my one to accompany
them. "No, Mary said he NJ prefer that
we ride by ourselves today Mrs. Lin
coin said afterwards that she never saw
him look haprier than he did during that
drive. In reply to remark OF hers to that
effect, made during that last drive, Mr..
Lincoln said, "An1 well may feel so,
Mary; for | consider that this day tue war
has come to close. Now we must try 10
be more cheerful In the future; for between
this terrible war aud the loss of our dlr-
ling son we have suffered much misery. Let
us botk try to be happy"
A MAN or DESTINY.
History will record no censure against Mr..
Lircoln for believing, like the fret Napo.
leon, that he was man Of destiny, for such
he surely was, II the term is at all adms-
sible in philosophc eense. And our estI-
mate OF his greatness must be heightened by
cobceding the fact that he was O believer in
certain phases OF the supernatural. Assured,
as lie undoubtedly was, by omens, which to
his mind were conclusive that he would rise
to greatness and power; he was as firmly
convinced by the same tokens, that he
would be suddenly cut of at the height OF
his career and the iullness Of his fame. lie
always believed that he would fall by the
hand OF an assassin; and yet, with that ap.
pallng doom clouding his life-a doom
fixed and irreyersible, as he was firmly con-
vlnCCd-his courage never for moment for
sook him, even in the most trying emergen
cies. Can greatness, courage, constancy IN
the pursuit OF exalted alms be tried by o
severer testS lie believed with Tennysou
that
because right is right, to follow right
| Were wisdom In tue soOrn of consequence"
MIR LISCOLN's PHILOSOPHY.
Concerning presentiments aud dream
Mr.. Lincoln had philosophy of his own
which, strange as 1t may appear, was II
perfect harmony with his character ia ell
other respects. He was no dabblcr In dl
vinatIon--astrology, horoscopy, prophecy
ehostly lore, or witcherics of any sort
With Goethe he held that mature canno
do otherwise than do right eternally'
Dreams and presentlments, In his iudg
ment, are not Of supernatural origin; tha
lie, they proceed In natural order, their es
sense being euperhumaD, but not dJOC
Nature. The moving power OF dreams ant
visions OF an extraordinary character h,
ascribCi, as did the Patriarchs OF old, to th
Almighty Intelligence that governs the Uni
verse, their proce -ses conforming strictly t
natural laws. MATURE" said he, sis tn
Workshop of the Almighty, and We foru
but links In the general chain OF intelectua
and material life"
Mr. Lincoln had this further notion
Dreams being natural occurrences, In thu
strlctest sense, he held thst their best In
terpreters are the common people, and thi
accounts, in large measure, FOR the pro
found respect he always had for the col
lective wisdom OF plain people, "the chill
dren Of nature,n he called them, touchinl
matters belonging to the domain of psychi
cal mysterl's There was some basis OF truth
he believed, for whatever obtained genera
credence among these "children of nature
and as he esteemed himself one of thel
number, having passed the greater part o
HIS life among them, We eau easily accoun
for the strength OF his convictions on mat
tiers about which they aud he were II
cordial agreement.
his FAvoRlTE PoEM.
The natural bent OF Mr.. Lincoln's mind
aided by early associations, inclined him t,
read books which tended to strengthen hi
early convictions on occdlt subjects. BY
ron's "Dream" was favorte poem, and
have often heard him repeat the folloyin!
lines:
"slcep hath it' oM a world
a boundary betw n the things misnamed
De~th and, existence, -'.ep hath It's Owl
world,
Aud wide realm OF Wild reality.
And dreams In their development have breath
And tears, and tortur 3, and the touch ot joy
They leave weight upon our wakin
thoughts,
They take weight irem on our waking toll
They do divide our being
He seemed strangely fascinated by tn
wonderful In history, such as the fall q
Geta by the hand of Caracalls as foretol
, by seyerus; the ghosts Of Caracsla's fathe
and murdered brother threatening aud NJ
braidiDg him, and kindred passages, Bat
have not space to further pursue this &C
count OF Mr., Lincoln's peculiar views col
cerning these interesting mysteries. Euoug
has been said, however, to show that th
; more intense the light which Is poured upo
what may be regarded as Mr.. Lincoln
weakest points the greater and grander wi
his character appear
The Diet OF strong Men.
The Roman soldiers, who built such wol